Gift ideas for the foodies in your life

A casserole big enough for stew for one or two people and oven mittsPierre Obendrauf
/ The Gazette

A serving set for the olive-oil aficianadoPierre Obendrauf
/ The Gazette

Richly textured crackle-glazed dishes.Pierre Obendrauf
/ The Gazette

Rustic glassware and a serving tray of recycled wood for cocktailsPierre Obendrauf
/ The Gazette

People who love to cook and entertain tend to have well-equipped kitchens and pantries stocked full.

But we're always open to new flavours, new ideas, perhaps a lovely addition to the holiday tables we set with such care. And when we have friends to dinner, we're thrilled to receive a hostess gift we know we'll use and treasure. With that in mind, here are 10 gift suggestions for the foodies in your lives, who are, as often as not, people who love to feed you. These ideas work for the holidays - and any other time.

1. Single people cook, too. One-litre enamelled cast-iron casserole is perfect for simmering a pasta sauce or stew for one or two ($18). Add a pair of floral-patterned oven mitts ($18) and a cast-iron trivet ($10) for a Sunday afternoon of slow cooking.

2. Foodies are still lamenting the demise of Gourmet magazine. It was an institution, but there are racks and racks of beautiful food magazines out there, some practical, others exotically aspirational. There's Saveur, for instance, Food & Wine and Bon Appetit; there's the sumptuous Cook's Illustrated from the United States, Jamie magazine from British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, exquisitely styled Delicious magazine from Australia, and Canada's own Canadian Living and Ricardo magazine, which is published in French.

Many of these magazines offer subscribers major discounts over newsstand buyers. Why not order a subscription online, then buy the latest issue on the newsstand and wrap it up along with a spatula, a wooden spoon and a note about the magazines to come? Better still, buy a selection of food magazines and offer them in a reusable wool felt tote, $16 at Loblaws.

3. Olive-oil devotees are a lot like oenophiles. They use terms like terroir and tasting notes and estate-bottled and they love trying new things. Olive & Olives is a chain of Montreal boutiques devoted to extra virgin olive oil, mostly Spanish, but also from Tunisia and Morocco. Put together a tasting tray that includes: a rectangular serving tray made of recycled green glass ($25.95), an olivewood covered salt box ($22.95) or salt pinch box ($9.95), along with white porcelain tasting spoons ($2.95 each) and a few bottles of the good stuff. Olive & Olives owner Claudia Pharand recommends the limited edition of Olive & Olives's new harvest blend of arbreblanque and arbequina olives ($25 for 500 mL), the organic Cortijo de Suerte Alta, from a family-owned grove in Cordoba ($32.95 for 500 ml) and Medolea from Tunisia ($21.95 for 500 ml)

4. How about a gift that is elegant, handmade - and fair-trade? Dix Milles Villages sells sets of sushi platters and Asian soup bowls in richly textured white crackle glaze. They are made by hand by a traditional handicrafts group in the ceramic-making village of Bat Tang in Vietnam. White crackle rice bowls are $10 each; square plates are $8; spoons are $3. Chopsticks in bamboo holder are $8.

6. Call them tapas, mezzes, pintxos or amuses-bouches; small bites are fun to eat and easy to serve. Anybody who entertains will appreciate a set of tapas-size azuelas. Glazed terracotta casseroles come in a range of sizes, and can go straight from the oven to the serving table. Prices range from $3 to $30, depending on size.

7. Dressing a salad or adding a couple of tablespoons of oil to a frying pan is more fun than ever with an oil dispenser, or huilier, like the one by Montreal glassblower Julien Mongeau. Comes in translucent red, green and brown, as well as in more opaque shades, all with contrasting collars and stainless steel tips. $56.

No two dispensers are entirely alike - and each, sweetly, is just a teeny tiny bit lopsided.

A selection at Boutique Option D, 50 St. Paul St. W. 514-842-7117; we also saw more of them at Atelier Boutique Gaia, 1590 Laurier Ave. E., near Papineau St. 514-598-5444.

8. White on white is so understated and muted and, well, elegant. Strictly speaking, the über-talented Quebec ceramic designer Louise Bousquet intended this shallow dish to sit under a bottle of wine. But it's the perfect size for nuts or olives with pre-dinner drinks or for chocolate-covered espresso beans afterward. Available in glazed as well as unglazed finishes. $20.

À table tout le monde, 361 St. Paul St. W., 514-750-0311.

9. One can argue that nearly 21 bucks ($20.95) for a 500 mL bottle of liquid soup is a lot of money. But Savon de Marseille is totally worth the splurge. For one, it's incredibly gentle, made in France with a minimum of 72 per cent pure vegetable oil, no detergent and no animal fats - just as it was more than 300 years ago. For another, it comes in subtle, yet delicious flavours including grapefruit, lavender and rose. And you buy the glass bottle, which comes with a pump dispenser, just once. Refills, which come in plastic bottles, are $22.95 for a whole litre.

Find savon de Marseille at Olive + Gourmando, 351 St. Paul St. W., in Old Montreal. 514-350-1083.

10. Offering to bring dessert is a nice way to make sure you'll get invited back: Artisanal panettone from Italy, a yeasty and versatile cake made with such luscious ingredients as fig and dark chocolate, cubes of candied pear and chocolate chips, orange cream or limoncello. A slice is nice after dinner, yummy with afternoon tea or coffee - or toasted for breakfast.

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